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What Made This Letter So Successful

by Jonathan 2.0
21 replies
Dear Reader:

On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than avenge students, both were personable and both-as young college graduates are-were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.

Music Marketing [dot] com: The "Two Young Men" Letter
... What made this letter so successful.
#letter #made #successful
  • Profile picture of the author loi77
    The powerful art of story telling.......
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    • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
      Originally Posted by loi77 View Post

      The powerful art of story telling...
      What is it about the story which makes it so compelling to its readers?
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      "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity."―Joseph Sugarman
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      • Profile picture of the author Pusateri
        Originally Posted by Jonathan 2.0 View Post

        What is it about the story which makes it so compelling to its readers?
        The reader is presented with two characters. He wants to identify with the more successful one, but he has to ask himself, "Which one am I really?"

        Subscribing to the Journal it the quick and obvious way for him to resolve this inner turmoil.
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        • Profile picture of the author Jonathan 2.0
          Originally Posted by Pusateri View Post

          The reader is presented with two characters. He wants to identify with the more successful one, but he has to ask himself, "Which one am I really?"

          Subscribing to the Journal it the quick and obvious way for him to resolve this inner turmoil.
          Interesting. Thanks. : )
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          "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity."―Joseph Sugarman
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      • Profile picture of the author WittyBlogger
        This is like beating a dead horse.

        The success stems from the attention-grabbing story, which is achieved through the use of contrast. The ingenious divergence of two similar lifestyles helped to simulate the widening contrast between "what can be" and "what cannot be".

        I think it's pretty much settled, no?

        -wittyblogger
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  • Profile picture of the author Anton Nadilo
    Everyone loves a story...and as a seconday point one in which they themselves can relate to the situation or characters being portrayed.

    Stay Strong & Prosper

    Cheers

    Anton
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  • Profile picture of the author zelgly2
    The way the story was told. The characters are normal individuals. What made one a manager and another as president of the same company.. that plus point for his success. when you read the story you get that eagerness to know what made it happen.
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  • Profile picture of the author ThomasOMalley
    People can identify with the two main characters in the story...a mark of any good story telling.

    Good story telling in copywriting makes your main sales points under the skeptical radar screen of your reader.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Marketeer
    In addition to all the answers given, the journal is implicitly positioned as the reason why the successful guy became successful.

    It also uses the Zeigarnik Effect...

    ...to hold the attention of the reader until the end.

    Funny thing is that...

    ...nowhere in the letter does it mention...

    ...that the successful guy subscribed to the Wall Street Journal.
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    • Profile picture of the author masterz
      Originally Posted by The Marketeer View Post

      In addition to all the answers given, the journal is also implicitly positioned as the reason why the successful guy became successful.

      It also uses the Zeigarnik Effect...

      ...to hold the attention of the reader until the end.

      Funny thing is that...

      ...nowhere in the letter does it mention...

      ...that the successful guy subscribed to the Wall Street Journal.
      thanks for your response. I want to read more about the "Zeigarnik Effect"in copywriting. if you have any good links. Please provide.
      NB. I could have serached google, but i want something from you. since you mentioned it first to my hearing. thanks a lot
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      • Profile picture of the author The Marketeer
        Originally Posted by masterz View Post

        thanks for your response. I want to read more about the "Zeigarnik Effect"in copywriting. if you have any good links. Please provide.
        This topic has been covered before and recently so you can read about it more here:

        How To Craft Cash Creating Climatic Copy

        Examples of Loops In Copy

        Please Don't Read This If You...

        Hope this helps.

        Also try using the "Search" function within the forum and select "The Copywriting Forum" as the sub-forum to narrow your search down. You'll be amazed at what you can find.

        If you still need more clarification just post a message back here and I'll try and simplify it.
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  • Profile picture of the author ejunkie
    1. The power of contrast
    2. The power of story telling
    3. Great exploitation of the 'i do not want to be like that or left behind' feeling
    4. The perfect connection between money, information, getting rich & Wall Street Journal
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  • Profile picture of the author moneywar
    Among all other 'powers' listed above, the one that is most seeked is the power of curiosity.
    Yes, the storyline is quite interesting.
    Yes, one feels the need to identify with one of the characters, cause all we do in our lifes is make choices that define us, define our jobs and everything.
    One is intrigued and compelled to stay and finish the story. But that's because the one most powerful of all feelings is concerned and affected through this Leter - and that is curiosity - why this happened, how it happened, why didn't something elese happen, why this one became .. and that one .., questions,questions,questions. And inside us we crave the answers and that's what, I think, makes this letter so much successful.
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  • Profile picture of the author DoWhatWorks
    That letter is an effective example of linking a product (the WSJ) to an ideal outcome (financial success). It's very effective because many people can relate to the story and the concept that we are a product of the small, daily decisions we make in life. That is truly some excellent copywriting. Thanks for the share. :-)

    -Terry

    Originally Posted by Jonathan 2.0 View Post

    ... What made this letter so successful.
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  • Profile picture of the author AJ Warrior
    You can paint a picture with your mind that's the talent of a good writer, the story was vibrantly written in my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author abugah
    This is why...
    1. The letter was selling a product well known. The journal was first published in 1874.
    2. It had very a strong story.
    3. It was targeting the working class. The baby boomers were getting into the workforce and were ambitious to become Company Presidents. ( the letter started mailing in 1974/5 and did so for the next 27 years. The first baby boomers hit the workforce in the late 1970s)
    4. It didn't look look like the typical sales letter. It had no headline. It was short; just two pages. And this made it look like a personal letter.
    5. Of course the writing was crystal clear. And as you know words can start and end a war; start and break a romantic relationship. Words can make you win an election.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jennie Heckel
    The KEY is the story... it seems REAL.

    The reader can identify with the 2 men and can see themselves in EITHER story line.

    The LOOPS in this story were properly closed and give the reader the complete PUSH to feel like "I am a WINNER IF I SUBSCRIBE."

    And I am DEFINITELY A LOSER IF I DON'T!

    THAT IS A GREAT STORY. ONE OF THE BEST COPYWRITING CONTROLS EVER WRITTEN. (BTW it was written in Martin Conroy in 1919! This is the famed Wall Stret Journal letter. It also made over 1 billion dollars....!

    DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS STORY MAILED AS THE "CONTROL" AND WAS UNBEATABLE UNTIL RECENT TIMES?

    Mal Decker finally toppled it in 2002.

    And did you know that the NEW Control letter that beat it is a rewrite of the original one and included color and graphics to spice it up?

    (This info from Harlan Kilstein's "Steal This Book". Please be aware this is not a plug for Harlan's book but I wanted to quote where the info was from.)

    Just my 2 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author agico1
    i don't think it has a great beginning, or at least not attractive for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author JonMills
    Classic story telling, comparison, it also appeals to the belief that knowledge can separate those who succeed and those who don't

    Many have swiped that and used it in various ways, changing men to women and changing the story

    Its a classic from the old masters.
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